Teen driver dies, 3 injured in I-19 wreck near Rio Rico

RIO RICO — With hovering mercy flight helicopters as the backdrop, a stuffed toy monkey covered in shrouds of glass served as a strict reminder of motor safety Wednesday afternoon when a fatal two-car accident diverted traffic to west frontage road on northbound Interstate 19 for at least three hours.

The accident occurred at 2:17 p.m. near Milepost 9.7 between Nogales and Rio Rico when a green Jeep Cherokee traveling southbound on I-19 lost control and went into the median area.

The Cherokee came out of the median onto the northbound lanes of traffic. The Cherokee was spinning in a clockwise manner when it struck a white Ford pick-up truck, which had a male child and a male and female adult in it.

The driver of the Cherokee, Miriam Edith Ames, 18, of Rio Rico, died at the scene.

The passengers in the pick-up truck were airlifted to University Medical Center in Tucson for treatment.

They are Cesar Mendoza Lopez, 23, the driver of the pickup, was treated and released.

Others in the truck were Anna Mendoza, age unknown; and Raul Figueroa Mendoza, 9 or 10, all of Nogales, Sonora.

The cause of the collision is under investigation.

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department, Border Patrol, Nogales Police Department and all area fire departments assisted in the incident.

DPS spokesman Kevin McNichols said it was the worst accident in Santa Cruz County since January, when there was another fatality at Kilometer 42. Before that, the most recent fatalities on Santa Cruz County highways were in November, October and September of 2006.

“Every one is too many,” McNichols said.